Day 16 Post 16 - Preparedness = Knowledge

 In my faith, we are taught to be prepared. We are taught to have a savings, a stock of food and clothes, and to gain "skills that will stand us in good stead".  It is interesting to me what different people consider "skills that will stand you in good stead"

For me, growing up, those skills included gardening, sewing, cooking, canning fruits and vegetables, simple home repairs and the importance of education. For my husband, growing up, it included gardening/farming, canning all sorts of food, hunting, fishing, raising livestock, butchering said livestock, doing car repairs and house repairs.

The difference between us is where we grew up. I grew up in the city and he grew up on a farm.  The needs of the two lifestyles were different. My parents, who were born in the 1920's and raised by white collar workers, were both college educated. His parents were raised by farmers. His mother was mostly a homemaker who worked occasionally outside the home. His father, who was gifted with the ability to understand and work on machines, worked in factories.  I went to college and became a teacher. My husband went to a trade school and was a journeyman HVAC technician when we met. He has since gotten a master degree in Engineering.

Since marrying my husband, I have learned about butchering, hunting and fishing. He has learned about the importance of education.  Together we have raised our children to do all that we both learned. Not that it was easy. I have a daughter who insisted that she didn't need to know how to sew. Yet she called me and thanked me for teaching her. Two other daughters have taken what we taught them and added onto it. We have a son who while living in an apartment, had tomato plants on the balcony. Another son and his wife are raising their children to can food and raise livestock. 

I think the best way to be prepared is to gain knowledge and skills. My husband likes to say "You can always not use what you know. But you can never use what you don't know." So for us being prepared is to learn as much as we can and use it whenever possible. We have raised our children to understand that skills and the goods created by your hands can be bartered. Barter goods and services are going to necessary if we hit a depression. I firmly believe that all of my children will survive regardless of the economic status of the world. 

That to me is the ultimate preparedness.